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Saturday, June 30, 2012

If I knew...

Another blog post that was inspired by
a sermon. :-)

What if you knew that Jesus was
coming, in 6 months?

Would
you do anything differently? What would you do different? Why?

Some
very good things to ask ourselves. And something I, right now, am
asking myself. What would I do different? And why?
Without thinking much, I could tell you what I would do different. I
would stop trying to get ahead in life, to make money, and get
things. I would, instead, go out and do the work that I know needs to
be done. I would be happy to live in a tent if need be. I would spend
hours in prayer and Bible study, seeking a deep connection with my
Lord. I would tirelessly seek to share that. I would... Whoa!

I
hope you have a huge problem with what I have just stated. If I would
do those things differently, because I knew Jesus was coming in 6
months, chances are, I would never do them. Because if I'm not doing
them now, in all likelihood, nothing would change. Think that's not
true? Look at the example of the Israel that lived in Jesus' time.
They knew that Jesus would likely come for the first time, in their
lifetime. Yet, when He did, they were not ready for Him, because they
didn't have a relationship with Him to begin with. “That will never
happen to me....” Oh yes, it can. I know it can happen to me. And
that is scary. Which leads me to my next point. I know that we don't
know how long it will be until He comes. But let's take this
scenario: What would you do differently if you knew He was coming in
6 months? Try it now.

Friends,
I am going to try and take this challenge myself. Do you want to join
me? It might be tough. But I will submit this idea to you: If we
lived like we would, if we knew Jesus was coming in 6 months or a
year, He just might! He's waiting...

“...with
longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When
the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people,
then He will come to claim them as His own.”
{COL 69.1}

Oh,
my friends! Are we gong to let Him, our best friend, down? How long
will we make Him wait?

Interesting thought. I've heard lots of people ask that same question, "What would you do differently if you know Christ was returning in X days?" As you mentioned, though, if we're not doing those things now we probably wouldn't change much even if we had that information. It's like the story of the rich man in Luke 16: once in hell he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his friends still on earth of the wrath to come. But Moses told him, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." In other words, people set in their sinful ways won't change based solely upon information; they need a life-changing experience with God!

And in case you were wondering, I just came across your blog by doing a bit of blog-suring. I just added myself as a follower and I hope you'll check out my Christian devotional blog as well.

Press on...

"The humble, self-denying life of our divine Lord we are to keep constantly in view. And then as we seek to imitate Him, keeping our eye upon the mark of the prize, we can run this race with certainty, knowing that if we do the very best we can we shall certainly secure the prize. . . ."

--In Heavenly Places, pg. 276.

This blog's inspiration...

"The greatest want of the world is the want of men--men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall."